Pregnancy, Parenthood & Playtime

Most people assume, since birth has gone into the hospitals at the turn of the 1900′s that maternal and fetal mortality rates have drastically improved. While they have have decreased the loss of women and children around the time of birth, it has not decreased as much as many of us may think.

During my research on this subject, I have come across many jaw dropping sources, one being a half hour video explanation of maternal mortality rates in industrialized nations called Birth By Numbers. The gentleman who is in the video is Eugene Declercq, PhD. Professor of Maternal Child Health at the Boston University School of Public Health. So all in all, this man is not just any joe shamo off the street who was prompted to read off a card.

In the year 2005, 4,138,349 babies were born in The United States.
Out of all those babies, 18,884 babies died within the first 4 weeks of their life.
1,248,815 were born via cesarean section.
4.6… that is the number of babies that die out of 1000 in the first 4 weeks of their life.
42, is where the United States ranks in neonatal deaths, out of the Countries in the World.

With that being said, those are alarming numbers that many may not know.
When we all think of the medical care that we have in our country, especially out maternity care, we think that like most other things, we have the best. But again we would be wrong. Even though The United States pays the most per capita for birth around the world, we have some of the worst outcomes not only for mothers, but for babies.

Last week, The BBC release an article that tackled the tough subject of Maternal Mortality world wide. In the article it details the amount of money the US spends on mothers in maternity care and birth, and while we spend the most, like I previously said, we are more likely to die, than most women in other countries. Like I stated before, over 4 million women give birth yearly in The United states, out of all of those women, about 500 will die from some sort of pregnancy/birth related complication.
Compared to other countries, this is a high number.

“No American woman should die from childbirth in 2009, we can definitely do a lot better,” says Dr Michael Lu, Associate Professor of Obstetrics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

In New Jersey, Jim Scythes is bringing up his two-year-old daughter Isabella on his own. His wife, Valerie, died from blood clots shortly after giving birth to Isabella by Caesarean section. Jim still cannot believe that Valerie died after giving birth, here in America.”

So why do so many more women in America die around the time of birth than in other nations which the United States can actually be statistically compared to? While the article states that the reasons are “complex“, I can answer it in my own opinion. (And when I say OPINION, I simply mean OPINION, I do not have any type of medical degree, I am not giving any kind of medical advice, I am just calling it like I see it and what I have discovered when independently researching on the topic) It is the way we handle birth here in this country. More, is not better, in fact from my personal experiences not only with my own births of my children, but with women I have worked with, mentored, and provided support for after their births, less is better. Less monitoring, less intervention, less inductions, less ultrasounds, less cesarean sections. Less is more. In countries around the world where less is more, home births are what 1/3 of the population have, where a mother once she turns 35 is not considered a high risk patient, they have LOWER maternal and neo natal death rates. This is not some magical country I am making up either. This is The Netherlands.

Another reason that women in America are more likely to die during pregnancy/childbirth is the lack of medical care many do not get because of the lack of medical insurance. It is estimated that 17 million women of childbearing age in The United States are uninsured. Even with programs such as medicaid, many do not receive the proper prenatal care or even proper health care prior to becoming pregnant, that they should be getting.
Other reasons also cited in the same article the above quote came from are obesity, poverty, and the number of cesarean sections taking place in The United States.

Dr Bill McCool, at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing, points out that America is far above the World Health Organization’s goal of a 15% C-section rate.”Surgery of any kind has risk,” he says, and a C-section is, “still the riskiest way to have a baby.
“In the US, almost one third of women have that procedure for delivery of their baby.”

One thing that really stood out to me in that quote is C-sections are “still the riskiest way to have a baby” but so many women are giving birth via cesarean section. In the year 2007, 31.8% of all women in The United States gave birth by cesarean section. 2007 in the most current cesarean section statistic release by the CDC.

Other issues cited by the CDC for this rate is the number of women who have unknown illness such as heart disease, blood vessel disease, and obesity. Many would say, how does one not know they are “obese” but some do not realize that in some women, especially those who are short, such as myself, a 30-50 pound weight increase in “optimal weight” can mean obesity. You do not need to be 5 feet tall and 300 pounds to be considered clinically obese.

For many women, it is a struggle to lose weight. I am currently battling it myself after the birth of my second child. After my first, I lost the weight very easily, it melted off of me, but this time around is much different. I now find myself counting calories, looking at the ingredients of certain products, and taking time to exercise (besides chasing around after a toddler) because I know at my current height and weight, I am not obese, but I am overweight.
While it may be difficult, the long term benefits of women losing weight, are worth it.

Taking a look at all the information together, it shows a great need for several things.

• Decreased Induction Rates
• Decreased Cesarean Section Rates
• Women improving their health before pregnancy
• Taking care of their bodies and health during pregnancy
• Keeping up with annual check ups, physicals, and other recommended screenings

Until we as women start to make a change, and demand a different kind of birth climate, this number will not decrease.
Let’s work to improve this, if not for us, for our children!